GOWRIE – Over these first two weeks of school, Brian Johnson can often be found first thing in the morning, meeting kids as he works bus duty.

As the new superintendent for Prairie Valley and Southeast Webster Grand, Johnson has quite a few other things on his plate. But meeting the students is one of the most important, he said.

“I’m trying to get to know the staff and the students,” Johnson said. “That’s probably been the hardest part, is walking down the hallways and not knowing every kid by name.”

Johnson was hired this summer for two districts, which together make up Southeast Valley.

Fortunately enough, Johnson said he’s come into two school systems that are in pretty good shape.

“Neither one of them is in financial troubles. Their test scores are good. So for me to come in and make a lot of changes immediately didn’t make a lot of sense,” he said. “I’m just trying to learn the ins and outs of cultures and traditions in both districts.

“I’m trying to get to every building at least once a week. Of course we’ve only been here eight days,” he added. “I’m trying to get a good grasp on the culture and climate, and you can’t do that sitting in one office.”

Before working here, Johnson was superintendent at Schleswig Community School District for eight years. He was kindergarten through eighth grade principal before that, being named building administrator before becoming superintendent.

Johnson started out teaching second and fourth grades at Charter Oak Ute school, in western Iowa, and coaching a variety of sports. He taught for three years at Maple Valley in third and fourth grade before transferring to Schleswig.

Each of the two districts he oversees now has roughly 600 students – double the enrollment of Schleswig, he said.

It’s been a good fit so far.

“The community members and the staff have been beyond great,” he said. “For me, moving the children and the whole family here, having them feel comfortable is far more important than me feeling comfortable.”

Not knowing where anyone is from means he doesn’t know who is Prairie Valley and who is SWG.

“There is mixed staff. I don’t know which staff members for the most part are from SWG, and I don’t know which are from PV. I don’t know where the kids live. So to me, my goal is to treat everyone as Southeast Valley,” he said.

Students from the SWG Elementary in Dayton and the PV Elementary in Farnhamville come together to the Southeast Valley Middle School in Burnside, and the SV High School in Gowrie.

Officially joining the two districts may or may not happen, Johnson said.

“That is yet to be determined,” he said. “I think a lot of things with consolidation have to play themselves out depending on enrollment and legislative decisions.”

One thing Johnson does hope to do is bring together the two school boards together. Currently they meet separately once a month.

“I would like to have a joint board meeting every month,” he said. “I think that will make everything a little more transparent for the boards, as well as any public who wishes to show up.”

Johnson’s father was also a school administrator, and Johnson attended four different school districts in western Iowa before graduating from Aurelia.

“It’s a nature versus nurture thing,” he said. “You don’t know if it’s the personality that brings you into that, or if it’s just those things that you’ve been raised to know.

“I know that when we were raised, education was very important. It continues to be very important to me.”